kiddos

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Florida, Birthday, Lymphedema, Graduation, and Manhattan

Hello friends. I know I am getting slack on posting, but things have been a little busy these days. Laughing out loud at just how busy busy is. In March, we traveled to Florida for the kids Spring Break and had a great time visiting with family and friends. While we were there we had the opportunity to dedicate our sweet Auggie. We wanted family to be involved and on Easter Sunday we went to my Uncle Joel's church and had him dedicated by my Grandmother's baby brother, my Uncle David. Many family members were present including two of my Great Aunts, 4 of my Dad's brothers and their wives, both of my parents, my sister and her family. In attendance also was one of the many prayer groups that prayed for Auggie during our battle with hydrops. It was very special.

Upon returning back to Greenville, we celebrated Oliver's 6th birthday with The Critter Keeper. Our house was full of 17 children who all laughed and squealed as the Critter Keeper put on a show to remember with live snakes, giant roaches, all sorts of lizards and spiders. We had a great time.

Shortly after that I returned to work full time and Mickey treked around the States on interviews. He successfully defended his dissertation and officially became Dr. L. He accepted a position at Kansas State University as assistant professor of Special education. This is a very big deal for our family and at the end of July we will plan to cross the Mississippi and relocate our little/big family to Manhattan!!!! Manhattan, Kansas!!!!

Oliver graduated kindergarten last night and we had a wonderful but bittersweet time as we said goodbye to our Shannon Forest family. Our kids have been attending SFCS since Oliver was in K3 and we have made many wonderful friends. Oliver made us laugh out loud as he leaned on the railing during the songs, doing the motions, but in a very laid back, too cool for school manner. When they called his name he threw his head back and walked very purposefully across the stage to get his diploma, almost as if saying "Okay Okay, I'm coming".

Auggie is 3 1/2 months old now. Can you believe it??? Time truly flies when you are having fun. We went to our first physical therapy appointment today and I learned a lot but know there is still a lot to learn. The lymphedema was originally in only his left hand, but now extends to his shoulder and across his chest. She even felt his face is somewhat assymetric. I felt this way when he was a newborn, and no one else really agreed, so at least now someone noticed it as well. If we stay on top of things he should have no complications, although unfortunately, everyone continues to tell us to watch for shortness of breath indicating pleural effusions as well as continuing to watch for abdominal ascites. This is hard to hear because I want to put all of that behind us and not continually have that concern. It was neat learning how to massage his arm and chest and back to help facilitate lymphatic drainage. She fitted him with a very smock, mock sleeve, to get him used to wearing something on his arm...which he will need to get used to. She taught me about the precautions necessary and frankly, they are scary. Basically, he cannot have any puncture, bug bites, burns, sunburns, or injury to this arm or it could cause infection and other complications.
However, she was less convinced that this would never resolve, in fact thinking it was entirely possible for him to "grow into" his lymphnodes.

So, as you see....life has been full and this is why my blogging is sporadic. Enjoy some pictures...until next time.

Followers

About Me

I am a wife, a mother of four beautiful children, a dog, a cat and a fish, a daughter, a sister, a friend, a follower of Jesus, an oncology nurse practitioner, a homemaker, and so many other things I am or want to be. I spend each day trying to balance the chaos of my life, and make sure that I weigh in heavier in the things that matter most. Life can be complicated and stressful, there is always a pile of clothes somewhere in my home, I haven't done yoga in over a year and I don't think I ever drink enough water...but I love my family with a passion I can't put into words, and somehow, everything always turns out alright.